Review – Jericho Season 4 #5 (Of 5) (IDW Publishing)

Publisher: IDW Publishing
Writer: Kalinda Vazquez
Artist: Andrew Currie
Release Date: 19th February 2014

The thing you need to know about Jericho, if you’re not familiar with the series, is that the fans absolutely loved it. After a 22-episode first season the show was cancelled. In an homage to the spectacular cliffhanger ending, and a protest of the cancellation, fans bombarded the network with over 20 tons of nuts. And somehow, it worked. A second season was created, consisting of just 7 episodes. And then they cancelled it again, this time for good.

It is abundantly clear that the Jericho continuation comics were made for the die-hard Jericho fans. These are not comics you could jump into with no prior knowledge of the story. If you’ve never seen Jericho, bookmark this page, go watch the show, and come back later.

Set approximately a year after the nuclear attacks on 23 US cities, the final issue of Season 4 sees our heroes Jake and Hawkins attempt to bring down the corrupt government of the Allied States of America by broadcasting a government confession of involvement with the terrorist attacks. As the president’s right-hand man Valente prepares to confess all live on air, the true mastermind behind the attacks, John Smith, is trying to get to Valente to exact revenge for his wife’s murder.

This issue is packed with plenty of action and intrigue, as Jake tries his best to keep his girlfriend safe from the many dangers descending on Jericho. And while there is significant plot progression and resolution in the issue, there are still loose ends to be tied up in the (confirmed!) next volume.

My one complaint with the issue and the arc in general was that there wasn’t enough everyday life – in particular I would have liked to see a lot more of Stanley and Mimi dealing with their pregnancy. But its much harder to find a space for those moments in a five-issue series than in a 22-episode season of a show, so I can understand their absence.

As for the art, there has been a lot of shifting between artists and styles in Season 4, and I absolutely hated the super-realistic style that was used in issue 3, so I was glad to see a return to the much more simple art style, with the characters still being instantly recognisable.

If you’re a fan of Jericho, you’ll enjoy this book – and if you’re not a fan, well all I can say to that is: nuts.

Rating: 3/5.

INTERIOR ARTWORK PREVIEW
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